The Rose Society

Adelina Amouteru's heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her. But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

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Adelina was simply just a girl who has been betrayed too many times. However, when darkness accumulates, terrible things can happen that no one would have ever thought of. Known as a lethal rebel, she must win over power and relinquish control over what she thinks is owed to her. Emotions, however, are one subject area that she cannot quite seem to master. In this sequel to the dark beginning, Marie Lu will have readers questioning all that they would have thought to be morally right and wrong.
- @Siri of The Hamilton Public Library's Teen Review Board

What a ride! The Rose Society did not let me down. I loved almost everything about it, and the legacy of the Elites continues.

The world building is awesome, as usual, and the new characters fit into the story fairly well. I was particularly captivated by Magiano and his carefree personality.

To be honest, I didn't think I'd like him coming between Enzo and Adelina, but now, I'm really shipping them. I find that Enzo and Adelina have this fiery, passionate kind of love while Magiano is the light at the end of the tunnel. His love is what can truly rescue the White Wolf from the darkness.

You can feel Adelina's alignments throughout the entire book. The descriptions are provided in perfect amounts, and the emotions are all so overwhelming. She wants so desperately to be forgiven by the Daggers but is so easily discouraged and angered when people give her the slightest levels of doubt. Deep inside though, Adelina holds the most fear and fury. She's vulnerable and refuses to ever show it. I just couldn't hate her.

Once again, this book really toyed with my mind. It made me question what was right and wrong, good and bad.

The one thing that bothered me was how powerful the Rose Society is. This was an issue in the first book too, and I mean, I get it, but it felt somewhat unfair. I really enjoy reading about them, yet it shows a degree of favoritism to the Roses.

Anyway, I'm ready for the third book and definitely looking forward to the finale.

​Reading a book where the main character is, in truth, a step past antihero and basically a villain makes for both interesting and slightly frustrating reading. There are so many moments in this book that make you, the reader, want to seize Adelina and shake her because SHE IS MAKING TERRIBLE CHOICES -- but I get that that's kinda the idea of this series. So, basically: I was annoyed at various moments while reading, but it certainly held my interest. I'll be really interested to see how Lu wraps this series up -- this is one of the more interesting character arcs I've encountered in a teen fantasy.

I couldn’t put this book down! Oh, how I want to read it again and again. This was not a typical middle novel in a trilogy. It magnifies the expectation for the final book (but did you expect any less from Marie Lu?), and is simply darker than ever, amazing, and addictive. I must confess. I love Magiano. He’s become my favorite in this novel, while the other characters have become more clear. He’s just so sweet, funny, and flirtatious! Still, so as not to give to much away, I’m only going to talk about Adelina.

While the first novel explored Adelina’s innocence and vulnerability, those ties have been mostly severed, and here we follow as she threatens to thoroughly embrace Machiavellian principles in her quest for vengeance and power. In using her illusion gifts more frequently, her inner turmoil grows which manifests outwardly, leaving her powers and her sanity unstable. Her one last hope is her love and loyalties, but those are uncertain with the addition of the raised and unpredictable Enzo. Adelina becomes more and more like the White Wolf for whom she is named, transforming from a dangerous puppy into a bloodthirsty wild animal that strikes all who may be potential threats. (I just can’t help but imagine how hard it must be for Marie Lu to write such a dark heroine; the real blood, sweat, and tears it must take to sit in Adelina’s head!) This may be the first time you are so seduced by a villain . . .

I think my biggest problem with this book is Violetta. She irritated me throughout the whole thing. So much so that I didn't even have sympathy for her in the end. Maybe I am too much like Adelina but, aside from not wanting her to die, I think she deserved it a little for all the things she did (or rather didn't do) for Adelina as children. That, and she was constantly being uncooperative and unrealistic for the circumstances. She can't sit there and swear an oath to take down enemies in a world like this and simultaneously act all righteous when she realizes that means people will die.

I did absolutely love Magiano. I think the character added a lot to the plot and provided a lightness that was missing without him. To be truthful though I kind of wish that he wasn't enamored with Adelina. Not only does this create a love triangle but it also starts to cast Adelina as a mary sue, something I really didn't see in her in the first book.

I don't care much for Maeve either, as a character she is fine and makes sense but she seems so contradictory. In one moment she is a tough, no nonsense queen and then in the next she is storming off and being indecisive with Lucent.

Raffaele was lacking for me here too. In the first book he was much more sympathetic, for obvious reasons. But here he was just bland for me which I didn't expect. Hopefully that changes in the next installment.

As for Enzo. I am undecided. I like that the series is setting up a massive showdown, which should be entertaining at least. But I feel like it is stumbling into YA trope territory. We didn't have a love triangle in the first book (which I loved) and we wouldn't have had one here without Enzo. I almost feel like Lu should have left him where he was and found another enemy to build into the climax.

Finally, Teren. I loved this character in the first book but I felt like he was haphazardly thrown around in this one. I liked that we saw a bit more of his personal side and the madness within but I would have preferred Lu to delve a little deeper into that. Also, his ending here is clearly meant to set up something for the next installment but I have a hard time seeing what that may be. I feel like his story arc is all but complete and adding anything in the next book may disrupt an otherwise fulfilling character line. I admit, however, that I could be entirely wrong here (and hope so, in fact, since the character has been enjoyable to this point).

I much preferred the first book to this one. Primarily because I just found the plot in the Rose Society to be far fetched and boring, and I was getting frustrated with the main character's actions- they weren't carried out in a way that made me sympathize with her. Instead, I thought they were stupid. Lu's writing was as beautiful as ever, though.

Well...I have to say that I liked this book. I really wasn't expecting to because I found The Young Elites to be really frustrating. It has a great storyline and characters, but Adelina is probably the most frustrating character that I have ever read about. Her darkness and need for killing and bad things was... I don't know. I just really hated it. Maybe I like reading about the good characters who always save the day rather than those who create the bad situations where people need saving from.
One character that I specifically want to mention was Violetta. She was really frustrating. She has a power that can be so useful in certain situations but is pretty useless in others. That is the first reason that I didn't like her. Because she couldn't do much in so many situations other than sitting on the sidelines. And the second reason is because she wouldn't stand for her own opinions. I think that Violetta is really smart but she isn't strong. She loves her sister Adelina too much to say anything that might be contradictory. Even if she thinks her sister is making a huge mistake, she won't say anything. It is really clear in the book that Violetta doesn't like it when Adelina kills people but does she say "Hey. Maybe you should stop killing people." No! She just stands there, sighs and moves on. Adelina needs someone to do that for her. To tell her that it isn't necessary to kill. That there are other ways to solve problems rather than killing.
Now let me mention the romance in this book. Adelina isn't the kind of character that gets involved in big sappy romances. But she had a romance in The Young Elites. And I half liked it. But you know how that ended. And now in The Rose Society, Adelina starts falling in love with this guy, and so do I. I really liked him and guess what happened...introducing the Love Triangle. That angered me so so so much. I absolutely hate love triangles. And then Adelina was getting caught up with the wrong boy. The one I didn't want anymore. That is why I hate love triangles. But I am hoping that in the third and final book titled The Midnight Star, Adelina will figure out that she only loves one boy. And maybe she will listen to Violetta for once and maybe, maybe... she can stop killing everybody?

Someday, when I am nothing but dust and wind, what tale will they tell about me?
Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

I pledge myself to the Rose Society,
Until the end of my days.
To use my eyes to see all that happens,
My tongue to woo others to our side,
My ears to hear every secret,
My hands
To crush my enemies.
I will do everything in my power to destroy all who stand in my way.

I will keep you until the day I choose not too. You have destroyed and harmed all that is dear to me. In return, I want you to know what that feels like. I will not kill you. I will keep you alive. I will torture you. Until your soul is dead ~Adelina